Science teacher accused of bullying 12-year-old girl

BY SAM SPOKONY | A teacher at an East Village middle school is under fire for allegedly bullying a 12-year-old student by showing the youth’s confidential medical information to an entire class.

“She feels helpless,” said Chanel Clark, the mother of the girl, who is in seventh grade at the Technology Arts and Sciences Studio School, on First Ave. at 11th St. “It’s been really hard on her, and now that so many of the other kids and teachers know, she’s struggling with the anxiety and depression.”

Clark explained that her daughter has been diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, or O.D.D. — a medical condition that causes severe behavioral outbursts in school settings, affecting a child’s ability to comply with authority figures and learn classroom material — and is currently in a psychological treatment program at Beth Israel.

As part of that program, the girl’s teachers at TASS were asked to fill out a tracking form to rate her classroom behavior each day.

Clark had instructed all of her daughter’s teachers that those documents were to be kept private. But during his Sept. 28 class, science teacher Benjamin Lewin placed one of the forms on a projector, revealing it to the girl’s peers and leaving her feeling embarrassed and ashamed.

In an e-mail to her mother several days later, Lewin admitted to publicly showing the girl’s form and apologized, saying that it was “completely unintentional,” and that it “will not happen again.”

But Clark still isn’t buying that response.

Calling Lewin’s actions “bully tactics,” she claimed that the teacher has been repeatedly insensitive regarding her daughter’s condition ever since she informed him of the Beth Israel program.

“When I first explained the importance of the tracking forms to [Lewin], he actually made a smart remark to me, and said something like, ‘Oh, I hope she won’t be a zombie in class,’ ” Clark recalled.

She added that, ever since the Sept. 28 incident, her daughter has told her that Lewin is continuing to be a “jerk” to her, and is avoiding teaching her. The girl is currently failing Lewin’s class, even though Clark stressed that she is a bright girl.

Lewin couldn’t be reached for comment.

TASS Principal George Morgan said that he hadn’t taken any disciplinary action against the science teacher, and declined to comment further.

Clark also accused Morgan of insensitivity, saying that he tried to make it seem like she was overreacting to the incident involving Lewin.

“He told both me and my daughter that she had blown the whole thing out proportion,” Clark said. “But the fact is that [Lewin] is an adult, he’s a school official, and he’s supposed to be responsible.”

The matter was initially referred to the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation, which operates independently from the Department of Education. But an S.C.I. representative said on Monday that the matter has since been referred back to D.O.E. — and apparently no investigation was actually conducted.

But Lewin, Morgan, D.O.E. and the city may soon have to face a lawsuit instead.

Clark’s lawyer, Frank Cassisi, said that he is the process of filing a notice of claim — a preliminary action before an actual suit is filed — against all the aforementioned parties for alleged damages resulting from Lewin’s conduct, as well as the teacher’s superiors’ failure to reprimand him.

Cassisi asserted that Lewin’s actions during the Sept. 28 incident violated federal laws that prevent the public disclosure of confidential medical information. He further claimed that, throughout her experiences at TASS, Clark’s daughter’s disability was not adequately handled. Specifically, he said, D.O.E. and TASS never developed an Individualized Education Plan for the girl, which is required under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Meanwhile, Clark said she’s becoming increasingly frustrated by the fact that her daughter must continue to attend TASS after this incident.

“I think it’s just a bad environment for her now,” she said.

Clark had previously attempted to get approval from D.O.E.’s Committee on Special Education to have her daughter transferred out of TASS and into a private school, but the committee denied the request, suggesting that the girl will do better in a public school.

“I disagree,” Clark said. “I think the public school has failed her, and she needs a program that’s more sensitive to her needs.”

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